Full-fashioned knitting machine



A ril 4, 1939. E. F. RICHTER 2,153,314

FULL-FASHIONED KNITTING MACHINE Filed May 22, 1936 3 Sheets-Sheet l lnven ton Emu. F. RICHTER A++ovney April 4, 1939. E. F. RICHTER FULL-FASHIONED KNITTING MACHINE Filed May 22, 1936 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 April 4, 1939. E. F. RICHTER FULL-FASHIONED KNITTING MACHINE Filed May 22, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 4-7 Inveni'or:

IL F RlCHTER Patented Apr. 4, 1939 PATENT OFFICE FULL-FASHIONED KNITTING MACHINE Emil F. Richter, Philadelphia, Pa., assignor to Artcraft Silk Hosiery Mills, Inc., Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Delaware Application May 22,

4 Claims.

This invention relates to full fashioned knitting machines and more particularly to improvements in the mechanism for actuating the thread carrier bars of such machines.

Full-fashioned machines of the type to which this invention appertains are characterized in that they are provided with a plurality of yarn carrier bars which extend longitudinally of the machine, each of these bars being provided with ;as many thread carriers as there are knitting sections to the machine. These thread carrier bars, which may number as many as eight or more per machine, are respectively reciprocatedl in such manner as to cause the thread carriers to travel back and forth to lay the thread in front of the sinkers and dividers which are respectively associated with the banks of needles of the several sections of the machine.

It is among the objects'of the present invention to provide in a full-fashioned knitting machine a mechanism which is automatically operative to actuate in predetermined sequence two or more of the carrier bars of the machine, the operation being such that when separate yarns of identical physical characteristics are respectively delivered to the thread carriers of the several carrier bars the several yarns so employed may be indiscriminately distributed throughout the fabric being knitted as to produce an exceedingly uniform appearance in the texture of the fabric, all shadows, stripes, rings and the like being substantially eliminated.

A further object of the invention is to provide a mechanism which is automatically operative to actuate the carrier bars in predetermined regular or irregular sequence, this mechanism being accordingly operative to so govern the operation of the selective mechanism that any given carrier may be operated successively any desired number of times beforeanother carrier is operated.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear more fully hereinafter.

The invention consists substantially in the combination, construction, location and relative arrangement of parts, all as will appear more fully hereinafter, as shown in the accompanying drawings and as finally pointed out in the appended claims.

In the said drawings:

Figure 1 is an end elevational view of a full fashioned knitting machine embodying the carrier selector mechanism constructed in accordance with the present invention;

1936, Serial No. 81,170

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view of the upper part of the machine;

Figure 3 is an enlarged frontal view of the carrier-bar. engaging device and parts associated therewith;

Figure 4 is a front elevational view of the part of the machine embodying the selector mechanism of the presentinvention;

Figure 5 is a view of the selector actuating mechanism;

Figure 6 is a view of the steadying mechanism;

Figure 7 is a view of the mechanism for changing the position of the carrier-bar engaging device; s t

Figure 8 is a partial view of the mechanism for governing the operation of the selector mechanism; and s Figures 9 and 10 are side elevational and top plan views of the governing mechanism-associated with the selector actuating mechanism.

Referring now to the drawings wherein the invention has been illustrated as being embodied in a full-fashioned fiat type. knitting machine, it will be observed that the thread carrier bars to which reference has heretofore been made are designated generally by the reference numeral l0, it being understood that in accordance with standard practice in the art these carrier bars, which. extend in substantially parallel relation longitudinally through the entire length of the machine, are disposed at an elevation somewhat above and immediately to the rear of the longitudinally spaced banks of needles (not shown). It will be observed that in the machine illustrated eight thread carrier bars H] are employed, the number of which may be varied, accordingly as the machine may be a legger, a footer or a single uni machine, from two to eight or more bars.

Inasmuch as the operation of the knitting machine considered as a whole, including the operation of the narrowing motion and of the Coulier and friction mechanisms, remains unaltered and unaffected by the present invention, it is not deemed necessary herein to describe any parts of the knitting machine except such as relate peculiarly to and cooperate with the thread carrier bars and those parts of the present invention which are associated therewith, it being understood, of course, that each thread carrier bar I0 is provided with as many longitudinally spaced thread carriers (not shown) as there are sections or knitting heads to the machine, any suitable means being employed for delivering to each thread carrier a threador yarn from'an individual cone. These several yarns thus severally delivered to the knitting head of the machine may be identical in their physical characteristics, such as color, denier, twist, material, etc, or they may be radically dissimilar in these characteristics,

, depending upon the type of fabric to be knitted.

Thus, if it be desired to knit a hosiery fabric the texture of which is desired to be uniformly the same throughout andwherein alllshadows, rings and other defects due to inherent variations in the physical characteristics of a single length of 1 yarn are desired to be eliminated, by delivering a plurality of similar yarns from individual cones to a number of thread carriers so that each carrier cooperates with the needle bank to produce a separate course of knitted loops with no two adjacent courses formed of the same length of yarn,

any variations in the physical characteristics of I the yarns employed will be so distributed through the fabric as not to appear as stripes or shadow lines therein. On the other hand, aplurality of yarns of distinctly different physical characterisitcs may be selectively delivered tothe knitting head of the machine to produce an entirely different effect in the knitted fabric, wherein yarns of different physical characteristics are employed in such manner that no adjacent or successive courses of theknitted fabric are formed of the same length of yarn. The present invention facilitates the production of knitted fabrics'wherein the interlooped courses thereof are formed of different yarns, regardless whether the latter are similar or dissimilar in their physical characteristics, and moreover permits the several different typesof yarns to be distributed. throughout the knitted fabric in accordance with a predeterminedly selected regular pattern or non-uniformly or irregularly, as may be desired, the mechanism being so operative'that it is unnecessary for a particular bar to operate constantly in fixed sequence with respect to the remaining bars. In other words, it is possible by means of the mechanism to be presently described for the several carrier bars to operate sequentially or one or more of the bars may be thrown into operation more or less frequently than are the remaining bars. As has already been mentioned, the several thread carrier bars III are arranged for individual reciprocation longitudinally ofthe machine by a mechanism not shown herein but which is well understood in the art, this mechanism being operative to longitudinally shift an arm I] which is adapted to selectively engage one or the other of the several carrier bars. This bar-engaging arm II is slidably' mounted within a supporting member I2 therefor having a trunnion I3 which is splined upon a horizontally disposed rock shaft I4, the member I2 being longitudinally slidable upon the shaft I4 in such manner that when the arm I I is in engagement with one or the other of the yarn carrier bars II] the reciprocable movement of the member I2 will'be imparted to that one of the carrier bars with which the arm I I is in engagement. Normally, the arm II is in the depressed position relatively to 'its supporting member I2, as shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4, said arm being provided with a forwardly projecting lifting handle I5 for raising the arm into inoperative position with'respect to the carrier bars;

l ormed as-a part ofthe trunnion I3 is an upper body member I6 through which longitudinally extends a bar II, this latter bar being disposed just above and in parallel relation to the rock shaft I4. Fixed to the rock shaft I4 at a point spaced from the supporting member I2 (see Figure 4) is an arm I8 provided in its free upper extremity with a pin I9 extending in a direction parallel to the rock shaft. A detent 2U, suitably pivoted upon a fixed part of the machine, is arranged to ride upon this pin I9 and is provided with a depression 2I within which the pin is adapted to seat, as shown. in Figure 1, to lock the machine for regular operation, i. e., for normal operation independently of and uninfluenced by the mechanism of the present invention. It will be observed that when the pin I9 engages the pivoted detent 20, the arm I8 is locked against movement in consequence of which the rock shaft I4 is restrained against oscillatory movement with the carrier-bar engaging arm II in the inoperative (full-line) position shown in Figure 2.

Connected to the bar I! and extending rearwarly and downwardly thereof is a rod 22, a pull upon which in the direction of its length will result in rotating the rock shaft I4 sufficiently to present the carrier-bar engaging arm II in position to engage one or another of the carrier bars II]. It will be understood, of course, that in order to effect this result the locking arm or detent 20 must first be lifted out of engagement with the pin I9 thereby permitting the necessary oscillatory movement of the rock shaft I4, the supporting member I2 and the pin-equipped arm I8 as a unit. The mechanism for effecting this oscillatory movement will now be described, it first being observed that in the machine illustrated in the drawings this mechanism is designed for automatic selective actuation of only three of the eight carrier bars shown, namely, the carrier bars designated Illa, Iflb, and I 00. Obviously, by simple modification of the mechanism shown, carrier bars other than those just designated, or in addition thereto, may be actuated.

Extending longitudinally of the machine in parallel relation to and spaced somewhat upwardly and to the rear of the rock shaft I4 is a shaft 23, this shaft being journalled for rotation in clockwise direction when viewed from the right-hand end of the machine, as shown in Figure 4. Keyed to the shaft 23 in longitudinally spaced relation are a ratchet 24, a hold down or setting wheel 25, and a carrier bar selector or cam wheel 26. Operatively associated with the ratchet 24 is a pawl 21 which is pivotally mounted, as at 28, to the free extremity of a shoe 29 r0- tatably journalled upon the shaft 23 in abutting relation to the ratchet 24. The pawl 2'! is provided with a laterally extending pin 30 for a purpose which will be apparent hereinafter. Pivotally connected to the ratchet shoe 29, as at 3I, is a downwardly extending rod 32 the lower end of which is connected to a bell crank lever 33 which is suitably journalled upon the frame of the machine, as at 34. The forward extremity of this bell crank lever 33 is provided with a cam roller 35 which is adapted to engage the perim' etral edge of a cam 36 keyed to the main shaft 31 of the machine. This cam 36 is elongated to provide a high section 38 and a low section 39 and it will be understood that for each complete rotation of the cam 36, each of the carrier bars to be operated by the present mechanism makes a complete stroke in either direction. It will also be apparent that as the high section 38 of the cam engages the cam roller 35, the bell crank lever 33 acts to push the rod 32 upwardly in consequence of which the pawl 21, when in engagement with the ratchet 24 as shown in Figure 5, rotates the ratchet in the direction of the arrow to the extent of one tooth thereof. Thus, the teeth of the ratchet wheel 24 are successively engaged by the pawl 21 and the ratchetwheel 24 is thereby rotated step by step for each revolution of the cam 36 and for each stroke in a given direction of one of the carrier bars um, lllb and Mic.

The hold down or setting wheel 25 is of circular outline and is provided in the rim thereof with a plurality of notches which correspond in number to the number of teeth on the ratchet wheel 24. Operatively associated with this hold down wheel is a springpressed detent 46, the free extremity of which is provided with a projection 4| which is adapted for successive seating in the several notches 42 of the hold-down wheel. The setting of the latter is such with respect to the setting of the ratchet wheel that as the ratchet wheel is rotated to the full extent of a single tooth, the projection 4| on the detent 40 seats within a notch 42 of the hold-down wheel to prevent back'lash or any loose play of the ratchet wheel.

The carrier bar selector or cam wheel 26 is most clearly shown in Figure 7 wherein it will be observed that it is in the form of a circular disc 43 keyed to the shaft 23 and having fixed thereto a plurality of cam elements 44, each of which is provided with a high surface 45 and a low surface 46. The portions of the rim of the disc 43 which lie between the elements 44, which portions are designated by the reference numeral 41, constitute the low spots of the cam wheel. The latter is thus provided with a plurality of cam surfaces 45, 46 and 41 arranged in similar series spaced uniformly about the circumference of the carrier bar selector 26. As clearly appears in Figure '7, the selector disc 43 is provided with six cam elements 44 detaohably secured to the disc, thereby providing a total of eighteen cam surfaces, surfaces 45, 46 and 41 repeated six times, which correspond in number to the number of teeth on theratchet 24 and the number of notches on the hold-down wheel 25. Inasmuch as the ratchet wheel 24, the hold-down wheel 25 and the carrier bar selector disc 26 are all keyed to the same shaft 23, it will be apparent that as the ratchet wheel is successively ratcheted by its pawl 21 for each revolution of the main cam 36, the carrier bar selector 26 will be correspondingly rotated step by stepto successively present the cam surfaces 45, 46 and 41 thereof at a given point. operatively associated with the carrier bar selector disc is a bell crank lever 48 which is suitably journalled upon a fixed shaft 49, the upper arm 56 of this bell crank lever being equipped with a cam roller 5| for successive engagement by the several cam surfaces of the carrier bar selector disc. The opposite arm 52 of the bell crank lever 56 is loosely connected, as by a pin and slot connection 53 (see Figure 1), to the lower extremity of the rod 22 heretofore described. A tension spring 54 extends between the lower end of the bell crank lever and a fixed point 55 on the machine, this spring serving to normally urge the cam roller 5| in contact with the cam surfaces of the carrier bar cylinder disc 26.

The mechanism as just described above is all that is required if it is desired merely to operate the carrier bars Illa, Iilb and |6-c selectively in predetermined regular sequence. This operation is effected as follows. The main cam 36 which is fixed to the main shaft 31 of the machine operates to depress the cam roller 35 for each stroke of one of said carrier bars and in turn causes the ratcheting mechanism to ratchet step by step in clockwise direction the shaft 23 upon which is keyed the carrier bar selector mechanism shown in Figure 7. Successive movements of the shaft 23 present in sequence the successive cam surfaces of the carrier bar selector mechanism against the cam roller 5| in consequence of which the bell crank lever 48 operatively associated with this selector mechanism is rotated about its shaft through successively different angles to present the arm II for engagement with one or another of the carrier bars Illa, lb or I60. Thus, when the selector wheel is in the position shown in Figure 7 with one of the highest cam surfaces 45 thereof in engagement with the cam roller 5|, the bell crank lever 48 will be shifted in clockwise direction to its maximum extent to thereby shift to its maximum extent the rod 22 and so cause the carrier bar-engaging arm I I to shift about the axis of the rock shaft M to an extent sufficient to permit the arm II to engage the carrier bar I00. Upon the succeedingrotation of the main cam 36, the pawl 21 of the ratcheting mechanism advances the ratchet wheel 24 to the extent of the next tooth in consequence of which the intermediate cam surface 46 is presented against the cam roller 5|, whereupon the rod 22 is retracted sufficiently to present the carrier barengaging arm H in engagement with the carrier bar lilb. Upon further ratcheting 0f the ratchet 24, the lowest cam surface 41 of the carrier bar selector mechanism is engaged by the cam roller 5| with the result that the rod 22 is still further retracted to cause the arm H to engage the carrier bar Illa. This cycle of operation is repeated so that for each ratcheting step of the ratchet wheel 24, which occurs for each complete revolution of the main cam 36, a separate cam surface (45, 46 or 41) is presented against the cam roller 5| to correspondingly rotate the bell crank lever 48 about its pivot 49 and so cause movement of the rod 22 sufficiently to effect engagement of the carrier bars I0a, lflb and H10 successively by the arm II. I

It may be desired on occasion to operate any one of the carrier bars |0a, Illb or |0c a number of times in succession, thereby obtaining an irregular sequence of operation of the these bars, as when it is desired to produce novelty effects in the knitted fabric. This irregular operation may be effected manually by the simple expedient of lifting the pawl 21 out of engagement with the ratchet 24, in which case, of course, there is no further rotation of the shaft 23 and the carrier-selector disc 26 remains stationary as does the bell crank lever 48 to thereby retain the arm H in engagement with the particular carrier bar with which it is already engaged. Thus, by easy manual manipulation of the pawl 21 any one of the carrier bars Illa, ||lb or Inc may be continued in successive operation to knit as many courses as may be desired.

This same result'may also be effected auto-- matically by the auxiliary mechanism now to be described, it being important to observe in this connection that this auxiliary mechanism is operative to throw into operation in accordance with a predetermined sequence selected carrier bars, any one 'of which may be operated to knit two or more courses of the fabric before another bar is operated. This auxiliary mechanism essentially consists of an endless pattern chain 56 which travels over sprockets 51 and 58 suitably ably, the upper pair of sprockets 51 is journalled for rotation about a fixed shaft 59 disposed to the rear of the shaft 23, while the lower pair of sprockets 59 is maintained in suspended relation to the upper sprockets by means of a tension spring 60 or its equivalent, such as a weight.

Fixed to the upper sprocket 51 for rotation therewith is a ratchet 6| with which is operatively associated a pawl 62 pivotally carried upon the outer extremity of a shoe 63 in a manner similar to the pawl mounting of the ratcheting mechanism shown in Figure 5. A rod 64, pivotally connected, as at 65, to the shoe 63, extends downwardly with its lower end connected to a bell crank lever 66 pivoted upon the shaft 34 of the bell crank lever 33. A cam roller 61 fitted upon the free extremity of the lever 66 engages a second main cam 61a keyed to the main shaft of the machine, the cam 61 being somewhat sim- .ilar in shape to the cam 36 and operating in unison therewith.

The pattern chain 56 as such is of the conventional construction ordinarily employed in fullfashioned knitting machines insofar as it consists of a plurality of longitudinally spaced cross bars 68 successive pairs of which are employed to support in predeterminedly spaced relation a plurality of pattern chain buttons 69. It will be understood, of course, that the arrangement of the pattern chain relatively to the other parts of the machine is not the conventional arrangement but instead is one peculiar to the machine of the present invention, It will be observed further that the pattern chain buttons 69 are preferably arranged in two rows laterally spaced apart, although the buttons in each of these rows are not necessarily uniformly spaced apart longitudinally of the chain. These buttons 69 operate in the manner and by the means presently to be described to throw the pawl 21 out of engagement with the main ratchet wheel 24. Inasmuch as the ratchet wheel 6| which is immediately associated with the pattern chain is provided with a number of teeth corresponding to the number on the main ratchet wheel, it will be apparent that for successive revolutions of the secondary cam 61a, the pattern chain will be stepped along its orbit of movement so as to present opposite a given point successive pairs of button-supporting cross bars 68. This means, of course, that for each stroke of a carrier bar a pair of button supporting bars of the pattern chain is presented at the said given point. Of course, not all of the successive pairs of button supporting bars of the pattern chain are fitted with the buttons 69 which results in depressions 10 being formed between successive buttons.

Operatively associated with the pattern chain is a bell crank lever H which is journalled, as at 12, upon an arm 13 suitably fixed to the machine. The arm 14 of the bell crank lever H is disposed in such manner that it overlies the top of the pattern chain for engagement by the buttons 69 as the latter are successively presented in the given position above mentioned which is just beneath the outer extremity of the bell crank lever arm M, Preferably, this outer extremity of this arm 14 is of a width sufiioient to encompass both of the laterally spaced rows of buttons 69.

The opposite arm 15 of the bell crank lever 1| extends downwardly of its pivot point 12 and is loosely connected, as at 16, to one end of a pawlreleasing cam member 11 which is mounted for oscillation about the shaft 23 ina vertical plane intersecting the pin 30 of the main ratchet pawl 21. This pawl-releasing cam member 11 is provided. with a forwardly projecting rounded nose [8 which is adapted upon rotation thereof in clockwise direction to engage the said pin 30 of the pawl 21 to effect the disengagement of the latter from the ratchet'24. This rotation of the cam 11 to effect the release of the pawl 21 is ob tained by means of the bell crank lever ll coacting with the buttons 69 on the pattern chain and the buttonless spaces therebetween. It will be apparent that as the button 69 rides beneath the arm 14 of the bell crank lever H, it causes the latter to shift in such position as to rotate the pawl-releasing cam 11 sufficiently to effect disengagement of the pawl 21 from the main ratchet wheel 24. Obviously, if the buttons 69 of the pattern chain were so arranged thatthey successively and without interruption engaged the arm 14 of the bell crank lever H, the pawl 21 would be maintained constantly out of engagement with the main ratchet with the result that the machine would-continue to reciprocate a single carrier bar. By suitably spacing the buttons, the operation of the various carrier bars is easily regulated, it being understood in this connection that the selector mechanism for selecting and controlling the operation of theseveral bars in predetermined regular or irregular sequence is dependent entirely upon the raising and lowering of the arm 14 of the bell crank lever H by the buttons 69 and buttonless spaces therebetween on the pattern chain.

It will be understood, of course, that the invention is susceptible of various changes from time to time without departing from the real spirit or general principles thereof and it is accordingly intended to claim the same broadly, as Well as specifically, as indicated by the appended claims.

What is claimed as new and useful is:

1. In a full-fashioned knitting machine, in combination, a plurality of reciprocable thread carrier bars, means for effecting the individual reciprocation of said bars in a predetermined order, said means including a bar-engaging arm slidably mounted upon a rock shaft, and means for angularly adjusting the said rock shaft whereby to present said arm for engagement with the several carrier bars in the desired predetermined order, said means including a cam wheel, a lever operated by said cam wheel, the cam wheel being intermittently actuated through a ratchet mechanism for actuating said lever through strokes of varying degree.

2. In a full-fashioned knitting machine, in combination, a plurality of reciprocable thread carrier bars, means for effecting the individual reciprocation of said bars in a predetermined order, said means including a single bar-engaging arm slidably mounted upon a rock shaft, a lever system operatively associated with the rock shaft for effecting the angular adjustment of the latter about the axis of said shaft, and means including a ratchet-operated cam wheel having a series of circumferentially spaced identical groups of gradient cam surfaces for automatically actuating said lever system through varying angular degrees at the instant any one of said carrier bars reaches the limit of its stroke in either direction.

3. In a full-fashioned knitting machine, in combination, a plurality of parallel thread carrier bars, a reciprocating arm adapted to engage any one of said bars for effecting the movement there'- of in either direction, a lever operative upon said arm to effect its engagement with one or the other of said bars selectively as desired, ratchetoperated means for causing said arm to rock outwardly and across the several carrier bars, and means automatically operative to render inoperative said ratchet-operated means to permit the successive operation of a given carrier bar, said last-mentioned means including a cam-operated lever system operating a pattern chain, said pattern chain acting conjointly with a cam and lever assembly to intermittently disengage the pawl of the aforementioned ratchet.

4. In a full-fashioned knitting machine, in

combination, a plurality of parallel thread carrier bars, a rock shaft, a bar-engaging member non-rotatably but slidably mounted upon said rock shaft, a cam-operated lever system operative to rock said shaft through various fixed angles whereby to present said member in position for selective engagement with the several carrier bars, ratchet-controlled means for fixing the various positions which said lever system may assume, and means operative to actuate the ratchet to the extent of one step as a particular carrier bar in motion reaches the limit of its stroke in either direction, said last-mentioned means consisting of a cam-operated lever system.

EMIL F. RICHTER. 

